Stay connected with FaceTime, Mail, and Messages

Your iMac offers built-in apps that empower you to stay connected with friends and family, near and far. Click the link in the table to learn more about FaceTime, Mail, and Messages.

FaceTime

Make and receive video and audio calls in the FaceTime app on your Mac.

Get started with FaceTime

Mail

Send and receive email messages and manage your mail accounts.

Get started with Mail

Messages

Send and receive iMessages and SMS/MMS messages with the Messages app on Mac.

Get started with Messages

FaceTime

With FaceTime, you can make video and audio calls to family and friends, and connect with up to 32 people in a Group FaceTime call. Not available to talk? Send a message or set a reminder to call back, right in the app.

Sign in to FaceTime. Before you can make and receive video and audio calls, you need to sign in to FaceTime. Enter your Apple Account email or phone number and your password in the FaceTime window, then click Sign In. Don’t remember if you have an Apple Account? If you have an iPhone, go to Settings, then tap your name. The email you used for your Apple Account appears under your name at the top.

Siri: Say something like: “Make a FaceTime call to Sharon.”

Make a FaceTime call. Use the built-in FaceTime HD camera on your Mac to make FaceTime video calls. Click New FaceTime, enter a name, phone number, or email address for the person you want to call, then click . If it’s not convenient to make a video call, you can make an audio-only call: click , then choose FaceTime Audio.

Tip: Add up to 32 people to a group call. To make a unique link to share with a group, click Create Link at the top-left corner in the FaceTime window. Copy the link to your clipboard or share directly with friends in Messages or Mail, or add the link to a Calendar event to schedule a call for later. You can now use a link to join FaceTime calls on non-Apple devices.

Accept or decline calls. When you receive a FaceTime call, click Accept to join with video. To answer with audio only, click next to Accept, then choose Answer as Audio. If you can’t take a call, click Decline—or click next to Decline to send a message or get a reminder to call back later.

A FaceTime window showing video effects, including buttons to replace your background.

Choose your background. With macOS Sequoia or later, you can choose a virtual background to express yourself or just hide the laundry behind you. To change your background, go to the FaceTime app, click in the menu bar, then select Background. Click the Background to choose one of the beautiful built-in backgrounds, or customize your background further by uploading one of your own or choosing from Photos.

Learn more. See the FaceTime User Guide.

Mail

Read, write, and send emails from all your accounts—iCloud, Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo, Outlook, and more—all in one place.

Set up your email accounts. Tired of signing in to multiple websites to check your email accounts? Set up Mail with all your accounts so you can see all your emails in one place. Choose Mail > Add Account.

Send or schedule an email. To start a new email, click in the Mail toolbar. Type the recipient’s email address, enter a subject, and type your message in the space below. When finished with your draft, click to send it or to schedule a time.

Send photos or other files. You can include photos, documents, and more when you write email messages. To add files, click , locate your file, then select it. To add photos, click and select the photos you’d like to send.

Siri: Say something like: “Email Laura about the trip.”

A Mail window showing a new message being drafted. The pop-up menu shows options to attach photos, or take a photo, scan a document, or add a sketch from Danny’s iPhone or iPad.

Find emails fast. You can quickly find emails by searching using your own words. In Mail, click in the top-right corner and type a word like “photo.” Mail shows emails where the word appears, and a menu allows you to refine your search by categories like sender or subject.

Tip: Stay organized by setting up custom rules to filter emails—for example, you can block email from a specific sender by moving their emails directly to the Trash. To add a rule, click Mail > Settings > Rules, then click Add Rule.

Learn more. See the Mail User Guide.

Messages

Stay connected by sending and receiving messages and media right from your Mac. Search makes it easy to find messages in a snap, and you can pin your favorite conversations to the top so it’s quick to get in touch with the people you chat with the most.

Message anyone, on any device. When you sign in to your Apple Account, you can use iMessage to exchange unlimited messages with anyone with an Apple device. If you have an iPhone, you can also relay SMS/MMS messages from your iPhone to your Mac. Click to start a conversation. 

See the Apple Support article What is the difference between iMessage and SMS/MMS? for more information about different types of messages.

Siri: Say something like: “Message Mom that I’ll be late.”

Add photos, stickers, and more. In a conversation, click , then choose Photos, Stickers, #images, or Message Effects to add fun media and effects to add to your message. Or easily share files, photos, and videos by dragging them into Messages.

Tip: With macOS Sequoia, you can now schedule a message to send at a specified time. Click , choose Send Later, then choose a date and time to send your message.

Find the right message. Find the message you’re looking for quickly by typing a person’s name or keywords into the search field. Combine search filters to further narrow your search. Your results are organized by category, such as conversations, messages, and photos.

A Messages window showing a conversation. A message is scheduled to send Tomorrow at 10:00 am. The message reads, “Happy birthday! Told you I wouldn’t forget.”

Keep favorite conversations at the top. Pin your favorite conversations to the top of the messages list by dragging them to the top. New messages, Tapbacks, and typing indicators appear above a pinned conversation. When there are unread messages in a group conversation, the most recent participants appear around the pinned conversation.

Learn more. See the Messages User Guide.

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